"I play Alice. She's one of the five wallflower friends, and she's a quiet wannabe Goth character. She's best friends with Mary Elizabeth, Mae Whitman's character, and she's sort of a tagalong. She befriends Charlie [played by Logan Lerman] along with the rest of the group."

What was your audition process like?

"After my first audition, I didn't hear anything for a little while. I was brought back in, and then my final audition was on Skype, which was really cool and nerve-racking. We did a couple of scenes of video chat, and then four days later, I found out that I got the part and had to fly to Pittsburgh that Monday."

Photo courtesy of Jill Wachter

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Had you read the book prior to auditioning?

"Yeah, I loved it!"

Did you see yourself playing Alice, or another character?

"Alice's role was expanded in the screenplay. In the book, she's mentioned several times— we know that she still steals jeans from department stores and she's interested in vampires—but you don't get a lot from the book. Going into the audition, I was able to create my own backstory and idea of who I thought she was just based on the scenes I was given. It's neat that I had that leeway to create her background because I didn't have a lot of information."

Photo: Getty Images

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How do you relate to your character and identify with her high school experiences?

"High school was not my favorite time of life. Alice is trying to find out who she's going to be outside of school, or even in college. She's looking for what she wants to do and whether or not her passions are going to work out because she wants to go to film school. She doesn't know if she's going to get in, so what does she do if she doesn't get in? She's also struggling with how she's going to relate to new people when her group of friends is not around. When she gets into New York University, she's finally able to settle in her own skin and she feels like she has a path to follow. I relate to that because once I got into college, I thought, I have a path! I'll be okay!"

Photo courtesy of Jill Wachter

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The movie tackles heavy topics such as suicide and abuse. What message do you hope that people take away from Perks?

"It tackles a lot—it's not pretty in any way. It's honest and true to someone who is struggling with family issues. Each character has something—like Ezra's character is struggling with his sexuality."

"I hope that people who are in high school can take away the fact that it's a hard time in life, and that society recognizes that. If you can push through, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And there's hope that you can pursue whatever you want. The scene where Emma's on top of the car and she looks like she's flying through the Fort Pitt Tunnel is like getting through high school and out into the real world to become who you really are. Perks is a symbol of hope."

Photo: PR Photos

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What was it like to be on set with so many talented young actors?

"It was amazing. Ezra [Miller] was the first person I met, and he embraced me right away. The first time I met Emma [Watson], we were rehearsing for a dance scene, so we spent a lot of time in the studio and bonded. The night I first met the whole cast was in the hotel, and we got a bunch of coloring books and just colored because we didn't know what else to do! We hung out in Logan's room because he's amazing at piano, and Johnny [Simmons] is too. One night, we didn't get back till 4 AM and we all stay up to watch the sunrise, and then we went to bed at 7 AM."

"There was an immediate connection between all of us. We had weekends off, so we could spend time together and always have a cookout out back at the pool behind the hotel."

"I'm going to make my off-Broadway debut for Playwrights Horizons. It's the world premiere of Amy Herzog's new play, The Great God Pan. We start rehearsals in October. My character is cured of an eating disorder and she's in therapy with one of the main characters in the play, so it shows her struggle to recover."

What's your dream role?

"I'd love to be able to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at some point—before I'm too old!"

Photo courtesy of Jill Wachter

Movies

Actress Erin Wilhelmi on The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The up-and-comer plays Alice in the film adaptation of the young adult novel, which opens on Friday, Sept. 21. She opens up about getting to know Emma Watson on set and why the film is a symbol of hope for high school students.